38

Aspen

Papa: My girl is a winner! *kiss emoji* *kiss emoji* *kiss emoji* *kiss emoji*

I cringed.

Since when had he learned how to use emojis?

Aspen: No more show for you.

I turned off my phone and dropped it into my handbag, leaning back against the chair. Everyone and my papa had seen the Mating Season kiss that was currently paused in high definition on the screen above the hospital bed.

Opal shook out the empty Jello cup as if she could get one more drop. “I’m so sad I missed the ball.”

“You didn’t miss much. It was mostly staged and it’s hard to cut loose in front of the cameras.” I tried not to look at the screen with the image on the TV of Ranger kissing me in the middle of the ballroom. It was everywhere. I could get free WIFI in the hospital, but I didn’t want to see all the pages blasting that kiss all over the internet. Jesse had already showed it to me. And now I knew why we weren’t allowed to watch the show during filming. Seeing the clips of myself made me self-conscious and nervous. I wasn’t the greatest actress.

That would have to change if I wanted to fulfill my bargain with Molly and keep Trenton on the show.

Thankfully, pack territory kept my papa safe from the press. Alpha Derek had given me his word to protect him from the reporters asking for interviews, as long as I kept mine.

Opal laid back on the hospital pillow. Her black hair fanned around the white linen and some pink had returned to her cheeks. “They said I could come back for next season and I don’t have to compete in the Luna Trials.”

“Do you want to come back?” Because if I had the choice to do this all over again, I’m not sure I would have made the same decisions.

Without meaning to, I glanced at the screen.

“Maybe.” Opal smiled at the image of Ranger kissing me. “I want that. But I could do without the whole getting poisoned part. It’s funny. I tried so hard not to come across as sweet so I didn’t get targeted, but my sweet-tooth did me in.”

“Five minutes.” The security guard, Ivan, popped his head into the room.

I gave him a nod. The past few days he’d been wherever I looked. After the cupcake situation, I was glad he was there now that I knew I was making enemies who sent threats.

“You really can’t remember who it was from or any other markings on the box?” I asked Opal. I’d tried to look for it myself, but the evidence was swept away.

“No.” She lowered her eyes as if she’d failed me somehow. “It was so stupid. I saw them in a brown box on the receptionist desk and asked who they were for. When they said you, I got all excited and asked to bring them up.”

“I’m sorry you took the hit for me.” I gathered my purse, wishing I could stay longer.

“It’s okay.” Opal giggled. “You handled Cindy for me so now we’re even, but I wish I knew who wanted to hurt you so we could stop them.”

“I’m sure they’ll show themselves eventually.” I grabbed the chocolate bar from my purse I’d gotten from the vending machine and set it on Opal’s tray. “Take care of yourself, okay?”

“You too.” Opal snatched the candy and gave me the sweetest smile. “I’ll be watching the rest of the show.”

*

The cream maxi dress billowed around me as the hospital doors slid open and the crowd of reporters stood screaming my name. I smiled and waved, posing for a few photos before sliding on the Armani sunglasses.

Ivan grumbled something about a “safety risk” behind me and the security team closed in tighter. I rolled my eyes under my glasses. They’d get over it eventually. In fact, I think I was already growing on them.

The requests for autographs continued and I signed as many as I could before beefy arms closed the door of the waiting limousine, locking me behind the tinted windows and bullet proof siding.

“I think we might need to hire you a social media manager.” Jesse laid with his legs stretched out across the leather seat, swiping through his phone.

“Do you have enough money from your winnings to cover that?” I smirked.

“We’ll just have to ask your sponsors for more.” There was something nefarious about his smile, but he was a cat so I didn’t judge him too harshly for it. He scooted over to show me his phone. “What do you think about these heels?”

“Could they get any bigger?”

Jesse snorted. “That’s what she said.”

The phone rang in my purse and I fished it out as the limo headed back to the resort.

I answered the unknown number, accepting the call from Holton Penitentiary.

“I’m going to need all the details on that kiss in a minute,” Clara rushed to say over the line. “But first, I finally got some dirt on Ranger and you are definitely going to want to hear this…”